STUDY OF THE INTEGRATED INTENSITY OF DEPOLARIZED LIGHT-SCATTERING SPECTRA OF TETRAHEDRAL MOLECULES

We have investigated, both experimentally and theoretically and as a function of both temperature and pressure, the integrated intensity I VH of the depolarized light scattering of liquids and liquid mixtures composed of tetrahedral molecules. The major contribution to IVH arises from dipole-induced-dipole interactions, and the marked decreases of (IVH/ρ2) with small changes of density ρ is attributed to significant increases in the symmetry of the local molecular environment of a given molecule, perhaps an increase associated with "interlocking structures" or "meshing of gears." We believe IVH/ρ2, because of its sensitivity to the placement of all near neighbors of a molecule, may be a useful probe of local structure, particularly for tetrahedral molecules. © 1990 American Institute of Physics.